Nimród E. Antal (; born November 30, 1973) is a

Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans (, ) are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people with ethnic Hungarian backgroun ...

film director,

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and actor.

Life and career

Antal was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California, to parents of Hungarian descent. In 1991, following his father's advice, Antal moved to Hungary to study at the Hungarian Film Academy in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. After graduating, he worked in the Hungarian film and television industry; in 2005, he returned to Los Angeles and continued to work in the film and television industry in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

Directing

Antal wrote and directed the Hungarian-language film ''

Kontroll ''Kontroll'' is a 2003 Hungarian comedy–thriller film. Shown internationally, mainly in art house theatres, the film is set on a fictionalized version of the Budapest Metro system. "Kontroll" in Hungarian refers to the ticket inspectors check ...

'' (2003), which won numerous awards, including the Award of the Youth at the

2004 Cannes Film Festival The 57th Cannes Film Festival took place from 12 to 23 May 2004. American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino served as jury president for the main competition. While American filmmaker Michael Moore won the Palme d'Or for the documentary film '' Fahrenh ...

and the main prize at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

, as well as a European Film Award nomination for Best Director and being selected as Hungary's submission to the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The backdrop of the film is the

Budapest Metro The Budapest Metro (, ) is the rapid transit system in the Hungary, Hungarian capital Budapest. Opened in 1896, it is the world's second oldest electrified underground railway after the City and South London Railway of 1890, now part of the Lon ...

subway system. ''Kontroll'', refers to the act of ticket inspectors checking to ensure a rider has paid their fare. Antal's first American feature film, '' Vacancy'', starring

Kate Beckinsale Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress. The only child of actors Richard Beckinsale and Judy Loe, she debuted in the series premiere of the 1975 daytime drama ''Couples.'' In 1993, she made her theatrical film deb ...

and

Luke Wilson Luke Cunningham Wilson (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor. Wilson's prominent film roles have included '' Bottle Rocket'' (1996), '' Blue Streak'' (1999), '' My Dog Skip'' (2000), '' Legally Blonde'' (2001), ''The Royal Tenenbaums' ...

, was released on April 20, 2007. His second American film, '' Armored'', was released in December 2009.

Robert Rodriguez Robert Anthony Rodriguez ( ; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ...

hired him to direct the film ''

Predators Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

''. He directed the Metallica 3D concert movie/narrative film titled '' Metallica: Through the Never'' (2013). Antal returned to Hungary to make '' The Whisky Bandit'' (2017), a biopic of infamous Hungarian

bank robber Bank robbery is the criminal act of stealing from a bank, specifically while bank employees and customers are subjected to force, violence, or a threat of violence. This refers to robbery of a bank branch or teller, as opposed to other bank ...

Attila Ambrus Attila Ambrus (born October 6, 1967), alias The Whiskey Robber, is a Hungarian former bank robbery, bank robber and professional ice hockey player. He became notorious during the 1990s for committing a string of undercover "gentleman robberies" ...

. Antal has directed for three television series, two of which were executive produced by

M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliyattu M. Night Shyamalan ( ; born August 6, 1970) is an American filmmaker. His films often employ supernatural plots and twist endings. The cumulative gross of his films exceeds $3.3 billion globally. Shyamalan has received vario ...

– first, as a guest director on ''

Wayward Pines ''Wayward Pines'' is an American mystery science fiction television series based on the ''Wayward Pines'' novels by Blake Crouch. Developed for television by Chad Hodge, the pilot was directed by M. Night Shyamalan, with both as executive pr ...

'', then as a regular director for ''

Servant A domestic worker is a person who works within a residence and performs a variety of household services for an individual, from providing cleaning and household maintenance, or cooking, laundry and ironing, or care for children and elderly ...

''. In 2022, he directed two episodes of ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

'' season 4.

Acting

Antal has appeared in acting roles in some Hungarian films, the most known among these are ''András Salamons ''Közel a szerelemhez'' (1999) and ''Balra a nap nyugszik'' (2000), directed by ''András Fésös''. Antal had major supporting parts in both of these films. He also had a cameo in Robert Rodriguez's 2010 film ''

Machete A machete (; ) is a broad blade used either as an agricultural implement similar to an axe, or in combat like a long-bladed knife. The blade is typically long and usually under thick. In the Spanish language, the word is possibly a dimin ...

''.

Filmography

Film Television

References

External links

*
Nimród Antal on IGN
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antal, Nimrod 1973 births American people of Hungarian descent Hungarian film directors Living people American science fiction film directors American male screenwriters Film directors from Los Angeles Screenwriters from California American horror film directors American action film directors